Gunnar Henderson and Roman Anthony both hit homers as the United States edged out the Dominican Republic 2-1 Sunday. This victory propelled the U.S. one win away from clinching its second World Baseball Classic championship.
The American team, led by NL Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes and stars Bryce Harper and Aaron Judge, reached its third consecutive WBC title game after winning in 2017 and losing to Japan in 2023. They will face the winner of Monday’s semifinal between Italy and Venezuela in Tuesday’s title game.
The Dominican Republic advanced to their first semis since winning the championship in 2013. Despite missing out on a title, the team featured six players who finished among the top 10 in MVP voting last year and easily breezed through early rounds.
Against Skenes (2-0), the U.S. bullpen held the Dominican Republic scoreless after four innings. Mason Miller struck out Geraldo Perdomo with a pitch that seemed to be well outside the zone for his second save.
Junior Caminero hit a solo homer off Skenes in the second, giving the Dominican Republic 15 homers in the tournament and surpassing Mexico’s record from 2009. He finished the tournament hitting .350.
The matchup between these star-studded lineups delivered numerous highlights, especially on defense. Judge started with a 95.7 mph fastball from right field to get Fernando Tatis Jr. at third. Later, Rodríguez scaled the center-field wall to rob Judge of a home run after being hit by Skenes’ fastball.
Henderson homered off Luis Severino in the fourth, tying it up before Anthony’s go-ahead homer connected on a 3-2 sinker from Gregory Soto.”